Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full contact combat sport that allows the participant to strike and grapple whether standing or on the ground, employing techniques from other combat sports and martial arts. The primary goal in an MMA or boxing contest is to render the opponent either defenseless or unconscious. The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), in a rather perverse manner, typically pays the fight winner for rendering his or her opponent unconscious by a complete knockout, with a $50,000 “knock-out-of-the-night” bonus. Such unconsciousness, in the medical community, equates to a severe concussion, and this type of trauma, whether struck with a fist, knee, elbow, or glove, may have permanent and lasting effects to the brain material itself, both immediately and long-term. Nonetheless, MMA is a sanctioned sport that enjoys global appeal.
The force it takes to cause a concussion is not known with absolute certainty, and will vary with the individual affected, although a value of 95 Gs is generally accepted, where G-force, stands for the force of acceleration on a body measured in g's, and 1.0 g is equal to the force of gravity at the Earth's surface, i.e., 9.8 meters/sec2. Loss of consciousness and head trauma in MMA occur with higher frequency and severity than in NFL football. Yet, to date, the national sports media have not focused much attention on the serious head trauma produced by MMA compared to other contact sports, such as NFL Football. At the same time, professional MMA participants seem to lack awareness of how to achieve a “knock out” more effectively other than by learning first-hand in the fighting ring. To the inventors' knowledge, there is no current technology that actually can measure the internal brain mechanism for traumatic loss of consciousness intentionally induced in order to win in MMA. Such technology would be useful in training and also in protecting MMA fighters.
Many scientific finite head element (FHE) models as well as the Wayne State University Head Injury Model curves predict that concussions should occur at head velocities in the range of velocities inflicted during MMA fighting. Evidence indicates that traumatic head rotation in the coronal plane, better known as the X rotational axis of the head, produces the majority of knockout concussions during MMA matches. Based on vast experience in trauma-induced neurological brain disorders, the inventors hypothesize that it is the corpus callosum found in the human brain which sustains the most formidable damage during a head strike. The corpus callosum is a broad band of nerve fibers joining the two hemispheres of the real human brain. The rotational acceleration of the head produces significant force upon the transverse axonal fibers of the corpus callosum, and may produce tearing and disruption of these fibers, which further produces retrograde axonal and neuron cell death, leading to possible permanent consequences from this head trauma.
Punching bags and laboratory-based “crash dummies” equipped with a surrogate human head have previously been used to measure external forces from strikes or blows. Although some of these training devices provide a visible target for the trainee to aim for (punching bags do not), striking the visible target provides little feedback to the trainee. In other studies, mouthpiece sensors and skin-adhesive sensors available from current sensor manufacturers have been employed to monitor impacts athletes receive. These sensors communicate signals sensed from impacts via Blu-Tooth or Wi-Fi to a GUI (Graphical User Interface) on a computer for analysis. Such systems monitor head impacts sustained during training or play because they are considered extremely dangerous to long-term mental health. These other training devices, however, do not yield metrics for the forces the corpus callosum region of the brain experiences during physical blows to the head. This lack of metrics means the athlete receives no or little feedback during training.